Army news service (April 28, 2005): Army's small-business advocate receives Gold Star Award.

WASHINGTON -- The Army's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization received two awards this week for supporting firms with less than 1,000 employees, or those that meet government revenue limits, and those owned by minorities or disabled veterans.

Tracey Pinson, director of the Army office, received the federal Small Business Administration's Gold Star Award for Excellence for her achievements in helping the Army make greater use of small businesses in its acquisitions.

In addition to Pinson's award, the SBA gave her agency its Goaling Award of Excellence. The awards came during the annual Small Business Week.

"We have a cadre of small business advisors in the field who are the real catalysts for this effort," Pinson said. "I accepted the award for them."

This is not the first time Pinson has been recognized by the SBA. In 2004, she received the organization's SBA Administrator's Leadership Award.

Pinson said her office helped small businesses receive $15.4 billion in Army contracts last year, 28 percent of the $55 billion in Army contract funding.

OSDBU has multiple roles in its mission to establish the Army as the premier organization for promoting and assisting small businesses.

"We provide counseling to businesses, and disseminate goals to the major commands--and we have executed goals both from the Office of the Secretary of Defense and our statutory goals from the Small Business Act," Pinson said.

As an example of the goals her office tries to meet, she said the $15.4 billion in contracting it arranged last year was distributed among the following categories: small and disadvantaged businesses received $4.5 billion, or about 9 percent of the Army's total $55 billion in contracting; women-owned businesses received $2 billion, or about 5 percent of the total; companies in historically under-utilized business zones (HUBzones), received $1.5 billion, or roughly 3 percent of the total; and service-disabled-veteran-owned companies received $228 million or .04 percent.

Pinson said the statutory goals for each category are: small-disadvantaged businesses, 5 percent; women-owned businesses, 5 percent; historically under-utilized business zones, 3 percent; and service-disabled-veteran businesses, 3 percent.

"So we're exceeding our goals for disadvantaged businesses, and we're there with the HUBzones," she said. "Service-disabled veteran-owned small business is a new program."

Pinson said her office is there to help both the businesses and the Army achieve their goals.

"I try to create a positive environment for the MACOMs [major commands] to use small businesses," she said. "Those MACOMs also have goals. All contracting activities have goals."

Reaching those goals is made easier by the broad support for the OSDBU programs throughout the Army, Pinson said.

"We have a very strong infrastructure within the Army in support of achieving these goals," she said "We have strong support in the entire acquisition community, from the top down."